Saikat Ranjan Bharda, Bangladesh
A TALE OF UNHINDERED PEOPLE

The snake – whenever we think about this animal, a shiver of fear runs through our veins. But there is a community who live their lives surrounded by snakes. Here, we know them as snake charmers. From a time long before, their custom has been to lead a free life under the free sky. Their way of life follows the ones of their ancestors’ from generations ago.

“We are doing well,” says Iman Ali Sharder, the leader of a group of snake charmers. In Bangla, they are called shapura, bedey or bajikor – the ones who lead the life of a gypsy. The truth is, the life we lead these days are surrounded by many walls, but these people live freely under an open sky. Still, their life is bounded by rituals and taboos. Every group has a leader who makes all the decisions. They don’t stay at a place for more than two to three months. The men earn a living by snake charming, selling spices and giving spiritual advice. The women sell bracelets, ornaments, and sometimes work as witch doctors.

The 21st century has given us many things to live for, but has brutally taken away time from those of us who used to live a simple life in harmony with nature. Many years ago when I was just a child, I would observe them and I felt I would be thrilled if I could be like them.

Since then, a lot of changes have entered our lives as technology improves day by day, but these gypsies are seemingly unaffected, remaining out of reach of the grips of these changes. Against all odds, these gypsies are struggling to save their customs handed down over hundreds of years by their distant ancestors, and continue to leading their lives as their earlier generations did.